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<\/p>\nSean “Diddy” Combs’ videographer, Michael Oberlies, is trying to clear his name as Combs’ team claims a new Netflix docuseries about Diddy’s rise and fall uses “stolen” footage prior to his arrest.<\/p>\n
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\u2018Diddy\u2019 claims Netflix used ‘stolen’ footage in new documentary<\/p>\n
Sean \u2018Diddy\u2019 Combs is pushing back on Netflix and 50 Cent, saying that the documentary about him uses footage that was \u201cnever authorized for release.\u201d<\/p>\n
unbranded – Entertainment<\/p>\n
Sean “Diddy” Combs<\/a>‘ videographer has entered Netflix and Combs’ brawl<\/a> over 50 Cent’s new docuseries<\/a> about the rapper’s rise and fall.<\/p>\n Michael Oberlies shared a statement with Rolling Stone<\/a> on Dec. 10 to clear his name as Combs’ camp has blasted “Sean Combs: The Reckoning<\/a>” as a “shameful hit piece<\/a>.”<\/p>\n Oberlies, who was involved in filming “a project profiling Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs” and has worked for the rapper since 2019, told the outlet, “The footage in question was not released by me or anyone authorized to handle Sean Combs\u2019 materials; it was by a third party who covered for me for three days while I was out of state.”<\/p>\n His statement continued: “This incident had nothing to do with any fee dispute or contract issue. The actions of the parties involved reflect the lack of integrity every storyteller should uphold. Taking footage intended for our project to advance a narrative that was not our own is both unethical and unacceptable.”<\/p>\n Oberlies’ comments are the latest in a recent back-and-forth between Netflix, which released the 50 Cent-produced series, and Combs’ family and legal team, who say the content perpetuates “lies” about Combs’ upbringing<\/a> and uses “stolen footage<\/a> that was never authorized for release.”<\/p>\n The Alexandria Stapleton-directed four-part series, which dropped Dec. 2, dives into Combs’ come-up in the music business (and later his downfall). It employs a mix of interviews<\/a>\u00a0and some\u00a0never-before-seen footage<\/a>\u00a0from the days before his arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges<\/a> in Manhattan on Sept. 16, 2024.<\/p>\n Combs, who would often keep the cameras rolling to document his life and work, had a videographer follow him while in New York City during federal prosecutors’ investigation into his alleged sex crimes, for which he is now serving 50 months in prison<\/a>.<\/p>\n At one point, the videographer captured federal agents on a rooftop across from the hotel room. In another scene, Combs is seen railing against one of his lawyers, the high-profile criminal defense attorney Marc Agnifilo.<\/p>\n What has Diddy’s team said about 50 Cent’s Netflix series?<\/p>\n A day before the docuseries went live on Netflix, a representative for Combs issued a statement<\/a> denouncing the streamer’s conduct as “illegal” as “Good Morning America” debuted the series’ teaser trailer<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Netflix\u2019s so-called ‘documentary’ is a shameful hit piece. Today\u2019s GMA teaser confirms that Netflix relied on stolen footage that was never authorized for release. As Netflix and CEO Ted Sarandos know, Mr. Combs has been amassing footage since he was 19 to tell his own story, in his own way. It is fundamentally unfair, and illegal, for Netflix to misappropriate that work,” the Dec. 2 statement read.<\/p>\n It continued, “Netflix is plainly desperate to sensationalize every minute of Mr. Combs\u2019s life, without regard for truth, in order to capitalize on a never-ending media frenzy. If Netflix cared about truth or about Mr. Combs’s legal rights, it would not be ripping private footage out of context \u2014 including conversations with his lawyers that were never intended for public viewing.”<\/p>\n Combs’ team also cast doubt on the origin of the footage that was included in the series.<\/p>\n “No rights in that material were ever transferred to Netflix or any third party,” the statement read. “It is equally staggering that Netflix handed creative control to Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson \u2014 a longtime adversary with a personal vendetta who has spent too much time slandering Mr. Combs.”<\/p>\n The rap mogul’s team also issued a second cease-and-desist letter to Netflix, the first of which was issued when\u00a0the documentary<\/a>\u00a0was first announced.<\/p>\n Diddy’s mother speaks out against Netflix docuseries<\/p>\n Combs’ mother, Janice Combs, also spoke out against the docuseries in a statement shared with USA TODAY on Dec. 8 through her son’s representative.<\/p>\n “These inaccuracies regarding my son Sean’s upbringing and family life is intentionally done to mislead viewers and further harm our reputation,” Janice Combs said. “Sean has been a dutiful son always ensuring that I was cared for and vigilantly managing my medical care, as well as providing financial support. I am requesting that these distortions, falsehoods and misleading statements be publicly retracted.”<\/p>\n She specifically called out her portrayal as “an abusive parent” and Bad Boy Entertainment cofounder Kirk Burrowes’ claim that her son slapped her during a 1991 interaction about the City College of New York stampede<\/a> that resulted in the deaths of nine people aged 15 to 28 years old.<\/p>\n What has Netflix said about ‘Sean Combs: The Reckoning’?<\/p>\n